The Hawaiian Monk Seal, Monachus schauinslani, is an endangered earless seal that is endemic to the waters off of the outer Hawaiian Islands. Known to the native Hawaiians as `Ilio-holo-i-ka-uaua, it received its scientific name Monachus schauinslandi because the first skull known to science was brought back from Laysan Island by Dr. H. Schauinsland. It gets its common name from its round head covered with short hairs, giving it the appearance of a medieval friar. The name may also reflect the fact that the Hawaiian Monk Seal lives a more solitary existence, in comparison with other seals that in places collect in large colonies. The Hawaiian Monk Seal comes from ancestors that go far back in time and are the most primitive living members of the Family Phocidae, having separated from other true seals perhaps 15 million years ago.